- February 13, 2025
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Sharon Weatherholtz, of Bee Keepers of Volusia County, explained the hive to visitors. Photos by Wayne Grant
John and Susie Orman, with granddaughter, Rylee, check the view with the binoculars.
City Commissioner Bill Partington said the center will inspire visitors to become stewards of the environment.
City officials and others cut the ribbon at the Grand Opening of the Environmental Discover Center.
Olivia Finley, 9, and Caleb Finley, 7, look at the display on local mammals.
Ed Anderson talks about a snake on display with Ed O’Shaughnessy, of Halifax River Audubon.
Brooklynn Milligan runs across the lawn as others wait for tours of the Environmental Discovery Center.
A new, Florida-Cracker style building with metal roof and wooden decks now sits alongside a lake in Central Park at 601 Division Avenue. The Environmental Discovery Center drew a crowd to its Grand Opening on May 21, and city officials expect it continue to attract people for years to come, to learn about the environment of the area.
Volunteer Ed Anderson said he and the other guides were only able to point out the highlights of the center to the large number of people coming through on tours.
“We’re just scraping the surface,” he said.
“You shared your vision. Your love of the environment is infectious.”
BILL PARTINGTON, city commissioner, to Joyce Ebbets
A large fish tank in the middle has local fish on one side and a display of aquaponics, how plants and animals work together, on the other. Native mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and plants are explained, not only with pictures, but interactive exhibits. There’s also a classroom where the city’s Enviro-Camp will be held this summer, instead of at The Casements.
Anderson said as people learn about the local environment, they will hopefully appreciate it more.
“We have only one world and we need to take care of it,” he said. “That’s what the EDC is all about.”
Visitor Shawn Finley said he was already thinking about bring Boy Scout groups to the center.
“They did a great job,” he said. “This has exceeded everybody’s expectations.”
The building is 2,000 square feet, and there is another 2,000 square feet of deck space circling the building, bringing the experience to the outdoors.
Along the deck, binoculars are available for guests to observe nature, such as an osprey nest in a tree across the lake.
Also on the back deck, honey bees swarm in and out of an entrance into a bee hive, which can be viewed inside the building.
Outside the center, Joel and Renee Ercole and Barbara Boss were looking at the kayak and canoe launch, because they often kayak and paddle board the lakes.
“We enjoy going through the beautiful chunnels,” Renee Ercole said. (The lakes are connected with tunnels under roadways.}
The restrooms will be open during the days even when the center is closed, so paddlers can use the site as a stopover, or visit the center.
Credit for the center is given to Joyce Ebbets, who served as city commissioner from 2000 to 2003, and later as goodwill ambassador. She was instrumental in getting the ECHO grant, which was awarded in 2014.
City Commissioner Bill Partington, in his remarks at opening, addressed Ebbets who was in the audience.
“You shared your vision,” he said. “Your love of the environment is infectious.”
Partington said that in a time of increasing technology, the center will remind young people of their connection to the environment.
“It will provide simulating programs to inspire us to be stewards of the environment,” he said.
The facility cost $800,000, and half was paid by an ECHO grant, a voter-approved county program that supports environmental, cultural, historic or outdoor projects.
Visit ormondbeach.org/edc.
